You either forgive me for what happened, or you don’t.
“It’s not that simple,” she protested, clearly anxious. Her hands looked as if she was wringing laundry.
Niall could see in her expression what was going to happen. His hand fell back to his side; the disappointment cutting like a knife. “Actually, it is that simple. What do you want, Annie?”
She looked up at him anxiously. “I…” She took a step toward him. “Niall, I don’t…”
The sound of a man’s voice stopped her. Her movement had alerted the guards watching her. “Who is there? Make yourself known. My lady, are you all right?”
“It’s all right,” Niall said. “You don’t need to say anything. I understand.”
The problem was that he did. He wanted her to believe in him, but why should she? He’d let her down. He wouldn’t believe in him either.
With one last look that would have to hold him for a lifetime, Niall turned and slipped back into the forest.
CHAPTER TEN
The anxiousness that Annie felt when Niall demanded her answer was nothing to the panic that gripped her heart as he disappeared into the forest. One minute he was there, and she was debating with herself with what to do, and the next, he was gone as if he’d never been there at all.
The sun dimmed.
The shadows darkened.
The air chilled.
At least it seemed that way. But when she looked up, the sun was still bright and high in the sky. She knew what her mind was trying to tell her. This wasn’t what she wanted. She didn’t want him to go.
She wanted to call him back, but it was too late. Niall was gone, and her brother’s men were already surrounding her.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, trying to quell their obvious alarm. “I thought I saw a kitten in a tree.”
“A kitten, my lady?” one of the guardsmen asked, clearly confused. “Magnus here said he saw a man.”
Annie shook her head, but her attention wasn’t on the guardsmen. She was already trying to come up with a plan to rectify her mistake. But she’d have to hurry. She needed to catch up with Niall before he made it to the coast. He’d make for Greenock most likely. It was the biggest port on the Clyde that would have plenty of ships to Ireland. But she’d take one of her brother’s best trackers just in case.
The guardsmen were still questioning her as Annie started back to the castle. She would gather a few things and try to convince Patrick—
She stopped suddenly and muttered a curse. Convince Patrick? That would take forever. She would gather a few things and findLizzie. Her sister-in-law would make her brother see sense much faster than Annie could.
She smiled, realizing it was nice to have an ally against her stubborn brother. Patrick wouldn’t be too keen to have her go to Ireland, let alone chase after the man who would take her away. Annie could almost hear him yelling about “how dangerous” it was, and that “no sister of his” was going anywhere with “cateran and outlaws about.”
Yes, Annie thought to herself, she definitely needed to find Lizzie first.
Now that Annie had made up her mind about what she wanted, she wondered how she could have hesitated even for a moment. She loved Niall, and Alys was right: that was all that mattered. Annie would not let what those men had done take her chance at happiness from her. She wasn’t going to hold what had happened at Dunvegan against him forever. Her heart and pride had taken a beating that day, but she would not allow past pain to prevent her future happiness. Whatever additional problems she and Niall had, they could be worked out. He would have to promise not to try to avenge every slight, and she would have to try to forgive his inevitable overprotectiveness. Perhaps Lizzie could give her some help with that as well?
It turned out she didn’t need to go in search of her sister-in-law. Annie had just passed through the castle gates when she saw her brother and Lizzie rushing out of the great hall toward her.
“What’s the matter?” Patrick demanded, obviously concerned. “We heard the commotion and Donnan said there was a problem outside.”
“There wasn’t a problem,” Annie said.
“My laird,” one of the men patrolling the battlements shouted down at Patrick. “There are riders approaching fast.” He looked again. “From the banner, it looks to be my lady’s brother.”
“Jamie?” Lizzie asked. “What is he doing here?”
Annie felt the dread of knowledge slam through her. Dear God. The Enforcer was chasing Niall? What had he done this time?
Her heart sank, guessing exactly what he’d done.
